Lfi 2317 

W7 N5 
Copy 1 



MEMORIAL 
NOTICES AND ADDRESSES 



CHARACTER AND PUBLIC SKRVICES 



SAMUEL BUELL WOOLWORTH, LL 1). 



rUIil.ISHED I'NDEU THE DIRECTION OP A COMMITTEE OP THE REGENTS OF THE 
UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OP NEW YORK. 



ALBANY : 

WEED, PARSONS & CO., PRINTERS. 



LR 2317 
.W7 N5 
Copy 1 



MEMORIAL 
NOTICES AND ADDRESSES 



CHARACTER AND PUBLIC SERVICES 



SAMUEL BUKLL WOOLWORTH, LL. D. 



PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OP A COMMITTEE OP THE REGENTS OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW TORK^ S,tjL^ )tU^X^■<.•v5^■^l. 



ALBANY : 

WEED, PARSONS & CO., PRINTERS. 
1883. 






v^^ 



In the Board of Regents, ) 
July 15, 1880. [ 

Ou motion of Regent Smith, the Chancellor was autiiorized to 
appoint a committee of five with power to publish the memorial 
notices of Dr. Woolwortli in separate form, and the Chancellor 
appointed the Vice-Chancellor, Regent Upson, Dr. Edward North, 
the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary as such committee. 






Samuel ^uell "2Soo(ix)ortK* 



Born in Bkidgehampton, Suffolk Cocntt, L. I., December, 
lOTH, 1800. 

Graduated from Hamilton College in 1S22. 

Teacher in Monson Academy, Mass., 1822-24. 

P-RiNciPAL OF Onondaga Valley Academy, 1824-30. 

Principal of Cortland Academy, in Homer, 1830-5Si. 

Trcstee OF Hamilton College, 1836-80. 

President of New York State Teachers' Association 
1847-48. 

Principal of State Normal School at Albany, 1S52-6. 

Received the Doctorate of Laws from Hamilton College, 
1854. 

Secretary of the Regents of the University of the State 
OF New York, 1856-80. 

Died in Brooklyn, Wednesday, June 30, 1880. 
Buried in Homer, Saturday, July 3, ISSO. 



I. 

DR. WOOL WORTH'S RESIGNATION. 



At the Annual Meeting of the Eoaixl ot Eegents, lield January 
8, 1880, Vice-Chancellor Pierson presented a communication from 
the Secretary, tendering his resignation, on account of physical in- 
firmity, which communication he read, as follows : 

It is now more than twenty-four years since I entered the service 
of the Board as its Secretary and Treasiirer. 

I have been unremitting in the work committed to me to tlie full 
extent of my ability, and the Board has always given me full 
and cordial support and confidence. To-day I find among you but 
one person a member of the Board of Regents at the time of ray 
election. 

It gives me inexpressible pleasure to state that all our consulta- 
tions and discussions have been harmonious, and our decisions have 
had entire concurrence. 

The duties of Secretary and Treasurer are very important and de 
mand constant care and attention. 

For son:e months my health iias been seriously impaired, and I 
find myself unable to discharge the duties of my oflice with satis- 
faction to myself, and I therefore remit to you the offices with which 
it has been your pleasure from time to time to invest me, and ask 
you to take such action as you may deem proper in the execution of 
the important trust committed to your care. 

The Vice-Ohancellor then off"ered the following resolutions, which 
he accompanied with appropriate remarks : 

Resolved^ That the resignation of Dr. Woolworth as Secretary 
and Treasurer of the Board be accepted and that his comments in 
reference thereto be entered in full in the minutes. 

Resolved, That Dr. Woolworth be and he is hereby appointed 
Honorary Secretary of the Board. 

Eegent Fitch seconded the motion for the adoption of the resohi- 
tions. 



Regent Clinton expressed his own feelings and sentiments in view 
of the resignation of so valuable and eminent an officer of this Board ; 
as did also Eegent (Jurtis, the Chancellor, Rev. Dr. Upson and Regent 
Leavenworth. 

The motion on adopting the resolution to accept the resignation 
of Secretary Woolworth and to appoint him an Honorary Secretary 
of the Board, was unanimously adopted. 

The Vice-Chancellor offered the following resolution, which was 
iinanimously adopted : 

Mesolved, That a committee of tliree be appointed by the Chan- 
cellor to prepare and report to the Board at its meeting to-morrow, 
a suitable minute to be entered on the records of the Board, express- 
ive of the sympathy of the Board for the illness of Dr. Woolworth 
that has made his resignation necessary, and of the high regard for 
the services he has rendered to the cause of education. 

The Chancellor appointed the Vice-Chancellor and Regents Curtis 
and Clinton, as the committee under the resolution. 



January 10, 1880. 

The''committee appointed last evening to report a suitable minute 
relative to the retirement of Secretary Woolworth, submitted the 
following, which was read and unanimously adopted : 

In accepting the resignation of Dr. Woolworth, who has been 
the Secretary of this Board for nenily a quarter of a century, 
the Board of Regents desire to place upon their minutes this 
testimony of their sincere sympathy with him in the illness 
which has compelled him to retire from the active duties of 
his otKce; of their ali'ectionate regard for him as a man ; and of 
their profound appreciation not only of the labors that he has 
performed for this Board, but of his distinguished earlier services 
as an academical teacher, which designated him as eminently fitted 
for the position which lie has filled so long and so worthily. 

As there is no branch of public duty in the State at once more 
important and more unobtrusive than that which has devolved 
upon him, the Board reflect with pleasure that during the oflicial 
term of Dr. Woodworth, and largely through his interest and in- 
telligence and fidelity, the standard of academic education in the 
State has been signally advanced, and that no public service has 
been more efficiently and economically performed than that which 
has been officially entrusted to him. 



Dr. Woolworth. 7 

The Board congratulate the State and themselves that they are 
yet to enjoy the advantage of his connsel and assistance, and very 
earnestly desire that his later years may be serene and happy with 
the well merited consciousness of a great work well done. 

It is ordered that the Chancellor of the Board be requested to 
transmit a copy of this minute to Dr. Woolworth. 



II. 

DR. WOOL WORTH'S DEATH AND FUNERAL 



In the Board of Regents, J%dy % 18S0. 

Tlie Board met on the call of the Chancellor, to take suitable 
action with reference to the death of the Honorary Secretary, Sam- 
uel B. Woolworth, LL. D., which occurred on the 30th" ult., at his 
son's residence in Brooklyn. 

Eev. Dr. Upson submitted the following draft of a minute which 
he had prepared on the request of the Vice-Chancellor : 

The Regents of the University receive, with unfeigned sorrow, 
the announcement of the death of their late Secretary, Samuel 
Buell Woolworth, LL. D. 

The Board desires to record upon its minutes their high appreci- 
ation of his excellent character and most useful and honorable 
service. 

A graduate of Hamilton College in 1822, receiving the degree of 
Doctor of Laws from the same institution in 1854, a member, and 
at the time of his death President of its Board of Trust, he was 
closely and honorably identified with one of the leading colleges of 
the State. For many years President of the Onondaga Academy, 
and subsequently, for a longer period, of the prosperous and influ- 
ential academy at Homer, and afterwards Principal of the State 
Normal School in this city. Dr. Woolworth will be remembered as 
a teacher eminently successful, and honored, alike, by those whom 
he taught and by tlie comznunity in which he lived. 

As Secretary of this Board from 1855 to 1880, when he was ap- 
pointed its Honorary Secretary, he rendered constant and most 
valuable service to public education. 

Faitiiful in duty, with broad views of educational administration, 
suggestive, sagacious, energetic and public spii-ited, he greatly pro- 
moted the advancement of academic and collegiate education in this 
State. Tlie members of this Board would affectionately cherish the 
memory of his useful and honored life, and would imitate his unos- 
tentatious and beneficent example. 



De. "Woolwoeth. 9 

Mr. Townsend moved the adoption of the minute, and after i-e- 
marks by the Vice-Chancellor and Mr. Townsend, the same was 
unanimously adopted. 

The following resolution was also adopted : 

Resolved, That a committee, consisting of Vice-Chancellor Pier- 
son, Regents Leavenworth, Warren and Upson, and Secretary 
Murray, be appointed to meet the remains at the depot in this city, 
and to attend the funeral at Homer, on Saturday, the 3d inst. 

Funeral Services at Brooklyn. 

The funeral services of the late Samuel Buell Woolworth, LL. D., 
were held at the residence of his sou, Calvin C. Woolworth, Esq., 
582 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, on Thursday afternoon, July 
1st, 1880. The services were conducted by Rev. Theodore L. Cuy- 
ler, D. D., who spoke as follows : 

Before the remains of this venerated man of God are borne 
hence, it is a fitting tribute to his honored memory that the mem- 
bers of his own household and those gathered here should have a 
brief, simple service this afternoon. 

I will read a few passages from that blessed book which was the 
guide of his life and the song in the house of his pilgrimage. 

" Lord, thou bast been our dwelling-place in all generations. 

" Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou liadst 
formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlast- 
ing, thou ai-t Grod." 

" The days of our years are three score years and ten." 

" So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts 
unto wisdom." 

" Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright ; for the end of 
that man is peace." 

" Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, liketh as a shock of 
corn Cometh in in his season." 

" Even to your old age I am he ; and even to hoar hairs will I 
carry you. I have made and I will bear, even I will carry, and will 
deliver you." 

"Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, 
an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people." 

" And Joseph said unto his brethren, ' I die.' " 

" So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old, and they 
embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt." 



10 Memoeial. 

" And 1 heard a voice from heaveti saying unto me, write, blessed 
are the dead which die in the Lord from iienceforth ; yea, saitli the 
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do 
follow them." 

" Let me die tiie death of the righteous, and let my last end be 
like his." 

" Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day 
and night in his temple : and he that sitteth on the throne shall 
dwell among them." 

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall 
the sun light on them, nor any heat. 

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, 
and shall lead tliem unto living fountains of waters; and God shall 
wipe away all tears from their eyes." 

" I am the resurrection and the life : he that believeth in me, 
though he were dead, yet shall he live: 

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die." 

These precious passages, and many others that I might select for 
you from God's word, seem to flock in like doves from the celestial 
clime, and hover round yonder slumbering form of this good and 
faithful servant of Almighty God. There are so many passages 
that we might gather, and like flowers scatter about him or about 
that new-made tomb into which this form shall soon be laid, "ashes 
to ashes, dust to dust." " The days of our years are three score 
years and ten," as I have read to you, " If by reason of strength 
they be four score years " — that is sometimes so ; it was so with this 
eminent servant of God. The physical strength, the healthy, pure, 
cleanly life lengthened it to four score 3'ears. His life was meas- 
ured by the century. He came in with its opening year, lived on 
through its great, stirring, historic events, and comes now very near 
to its close before God summons him to come up higher where 
years are never measured in the calendar of the inheritance everlast- 
ing, and fading not away for evermore. 

This service is held on his native island. Born at the other end 
of it, of a good historic stock — historic in the church of Jesus 
Christ — ^lie bore the name of that venerable servant of God, of 
whom I used to hear in my childhood, (and many of you probably 
also), the venerable Dr. Buell. There was good, godly blood in 
those veins. A child of prayer, and consecrated to the Lord at the 
begiiming of life, he walked on like Bunj^an's Pilgrim, steadily set- 
ting his face toward the celestial city; clambering with many steps 



De. "Woolwoeth. 11 

up the "Hill Difficulty," with many a "Mountain Delectable" of 
enjoyment, with many a glimpse of the gates by the eye of hope 
from the " Hill Clear." He dwelt for a while in the land of Ben- 
lah, and then like " Great-Heart " he passed quietly through the 
river of death, and has gone home to be with God. His life was a 
verj^ active one, a seedful life, scattering seed in many, many hearts ; 
bringing forth the fruits of hidden instruction in the years past, and 
in the years to come. He was an honored member of that honored 
guild of teachers — the only profession to which the Lord Jesus 
Christ belonged when on earth. A great teacher was our Master, 
and it is a great office to be a faithful, instructive, truth distributing 
teacher. He went out into that part of the State of New York, so 
familiar to many of us, half a century ago, and taught for a time in 
Onondaga county, but became most known and uoted for his labors 
in that direction in the beautiful town of Homer — a town which, I 
am inclined to think, has done more for culture than any other town 
of its population in this entire Empire State. And there are some 
of us who from our boyhood have learned to think of Homer as a 
place deserving its classical name on account of its advantages and 
wholesome religious influences. Dr. Woolworth helped to make 
Homer what it was, not only by his eminence as a teacher, but by 
his steadfast sabbatical observance, his staunch spirit and tcuper^ 
the reformer's spirit always in him — and his uncompromising god- 
liness. He was a part of the salt that gave tone to its savor ; one 
of the lights that made that city — like the city on the hill — one that 
could not be hid. The life of Dr. "Woolworth was like a banyan 
tree, dropping its branches down into the earth and springing up 
with other new trunks. He multiplied himself in his well-taught 
pupils. Many of the prominent educationists of this State were 
his pupils, and others who have honored his instruction in the fine 
arts and in the ministry. To-day one of his pupils proclaims the 
name of Christ in the city of Paris. So the outspreading limbs 
of this old man in his advancing years took root again, and this 
banyan of Dr. Woolworth's influence is springing up with new shoots 
to put out new branches and blossoms and bear fruit long after this 
form shall have mouldered to dust in a Christian's grave. Later, 
after his successful and honored labors in Cortland county, he was 
called to a high position as the head of the Normal school ; but we 
are most familiar with him as a member of the Board of Regents 
of the State University, an office which he held clear on to the close 
of his days. And so the shock of corn scattered its seed, grew and 



12 Memorial. 

ripened, and was finally ready to be — not cut down with any rude 
violent process, but just transplanted — "coming in in its season" 
it was transplanted to heaven. I count his an exceedingly, useful, 
noble and honorable career. He belonged to a type of men of whom 
God send us more! He feared the Lord and kept his command- 
ments ; lie labored with the old-fashioned intensity, industr}', fru- 
gality and conscientious devotion ; he lived for Christ, in Christ, 
with. Christ, and when his work was done, then he went home to 
rest. When the last stroke was struck, he laid him down to sleep ; 
when the battle was well fought out, God took him home as it were 
on his shield, and now he is asleep in Jesus'; and children and chil- 
dren's children rise up and call him blessed. 

In thej'ears to come, men who were taught by him will be re- 
membering his instructions, and all over this State of New York and 
over the western Commonwealth, as well as across the seas, the 
pupils of Dr. Wool worth will be graduating from time to time into 
mpre and more of honored usefulness, from the instructions which 
they received from him. 

He was a teacher on earth. He is a learner now. He has gone 
up to yonder High School of heaven to sit at the feet of Jesus, to 
learn more in an hour than he could teach in a life-time. He is 
gathered in with the great company of teachers and pi-ophets and 
apostles and missionaries and martyrs, and to meet, I doubt not, 
many of those whom he has taught, and to join in blessed fellow- 
ship with many faithful ministers to whom he had been as an Aaron 
or a Hur in supporting them in godly work. What wonderful 
knowledge he will be gaining there ! 

I have been greatly quickened within a few days in reading the 
last hours of that most remarkable servant of God, Dr. Bushnell, 
and as I followed him along as he drew nearer and nearer to the 
great light of heaven and found how his hungry soul was taking in 
the great preparatory truths to the full revelation, it seemed as if 
death never before had reached such transcendant sublimity. The 
great hungry loving hearts of God's people, how they will throw 
themselves into tlie bosom of the revelation that is waiting for them ; 
how their manifold eye will catch the glorious unfolding; and what 
a blessed surprise it will be when heaven with all its brightness and 
blessedness and bliss shall roll in upon them its exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory ! 

These are a few thoughts that have gathered themselves round 
yonder sleeping form. Filial love will bear him away to his burial. 



Dr. Woolwoeth. 13 

as it bore Abraham and Jacob and Joseph down to their resting 
place where tiiej have slumbered together — father and children. 
So as you bear the good old man back to the scene of his honored 
labors, to lay him down among his fellow Christians of Homer, 
among his scholars there, among the godly men and women to whom 
he ministered in that beautiful, classic and Christian town, you will 
feel this — that you are just to lay him down in such a spot as his 
Master slept in, that he may awake and be forever with the Lord. 
Then the body shall be joined to the glorified spirit, and no longer 
unclothed, he shall be clothed upon and be like unto the Lord. A 
blessed life, a blessed death, a blessed home, a blessed heaven. Tea, 
write it again to-day, " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, 
they rest from their labors and their works do follow them." 
The hymn " Jesus, lover of my soul," was then sung. 

Peatee. 
Oh Lord God of hosts, our father's God, the home of thy people 
in all generations, we thank Thee for thy gospel, for the fruits of 
thegospel in godly lives. We thank Thee for good men who are 
filled with the Holy Spirit, who are M'itnesses for Thee on earth, 
who are treasure-bearers to their fellow creatures, who are as salt 
preserving by a holy faith, who are as light in the darkness. We 
bless Thee for the gift of this man. We bless Thee that thou hast 
spared him so long and hast permitted him to gather such a large, 
full sheaf, and now that thou hast summoned him home when the 
day was over and the twilight gathered ; and as these beloved ones 
bear him hence to his burial, they may feel that indeed the temper 
of the Holy Spirit was his, and that God was with him and is his 
God forevermore. We bless Thee for the early call of divine grace, 
for the indwelling of that grace in the heart, by which alone he was 
what he was. We thank Thee for the truths he gathered and the 
truths he scattered, for all the seed that his labors have sowed in 
many a heart, bringing forth thirty, fifty and a hundred fold. We 
bless Thee for Thy goodness to him in his earthly experience, that 
he trusted in the word of God and endured as seeing the Savior 
with the invisible eye ; and when his journey was over we thank 
Thee that thou didst permit him to fall asleep among his kindred — 
that those who watched over him were those whom he had watched 
over in the years past, and that his eyes were closed by the hand of 
filial affection. Great God, help us to live, since life may be so 
lived, so noble, so fruitful, so glorious. 



14: "Memorial. 

"Teach us to live, that we may dread 
The grave as little as our bed ; 
Teach us to die, that so we may 
Rise glorious at the judgment day. 

Help lis to live in all godliness and purity, in sincerity and hon- 
esty of heart, in conformity with thy word and submission to thy 
will. May every one of us have our dear friend's Savior to bfe our 
Savior, his God to be our God, our hope to be as his, an anchor 
sure and steadfast. 

Bless this company that is gathered here to pay their tribute of 
respect to one who had grown old in the service of God and of his 
fellow men. His gray hairs were a crown of honor, " found 
in righteousness." Bless the absent ones of this family far from 
home, who cannot to-day minister their tribute of love and venera- 
tion with those who are assembled ; and we pray that all this house- 
hold in the coming generations, as they rise up to call him blessed, 
may take his bible to be their book, his Savior to be their Savior, 
and set their faces whither he walked, toward the inheritance of the 
saints in light. Go with them as they bear him hence to that scene 
of his honored and active labors to lay him down to rest beside those 
with whom he did commune at the Master's table, with whom he 
walked day after day ; and as they lay him down to rest may they 
know, O blessed Savior, that thou art the resurrection and the 
life, and that thou wilt fashion his body like unto thy glorious body, 
that he may be forever with the Lord. 

Grant Thy blessing upon us. Fill all our hearts with thy grace ; 
direct us by thy heavenly counsel, and whether we all live like our 
honored friend to taste the fulness of four-score years, let us fall 
asleep as sweetly in our Savior's love. 

And to him who hath loved us and given himself for us on the 
cross of Calvary, be thanks and praise; dominion and honor and 
glory forever. Amen. 

Sekvices at Homee. 

The services at Horaer, N. Y., were held at the Congregational 
church in the afternoon of Saturday, July 3d. 

The exercises were opened by the singing of " When our heads 
are bowed with woe." 

liev. William A. Robinson, the Pastor, read Psalm .xei. and Ro- 
mans viii, 14-39. 



Dr. Wool worth. 15 

After the singing of the hymn "My God, my Father, while I 
stray," the Pastor spoke as follows: 

It had been my expectation and that of others, that our dear 
brother Fessenden, a pastor here during a part of Dr. Woolworth's 
residence in this town, would be present to-day to take the charge 
of these services. 

From his illness unable to be present, tlie duty devolves upon me, 
not to speak at length of him whose record is on high and whose 
work lives after him, but to speak simply of those things that are of 
interest to us as we gather here in tliis place where for many years 
of his early and vigorous manhood, Dr. Woolworth wrought a work 
fraught with blessing unto all this region. It is proper for me be- 
fore introducing others who shall speak of his work in other and in 
some respects wider spheres of usefulness, to refer to that which it 
was given him to accomplisli here. In some sense, I stand then as a 
representative of this community so deeply moved with sorrow by 
the death of one they have long known and honored. I speak as 
the pastor of this historic church of which Dr. Woolworth was for 
yeai:s a valued member and officer. I speak in behalf of the Sab- 
bath schoolthat has not lost from its records and the memory of its 
adultpupils, the name of him who was so long connected with it and 
for a time its Superintendent. I speak also in the name of this 
institution of learning, which, founded in 1819, in the year 1830 
received Mr. Woolworth as its principal. Coming here then from 
Onondaga Valley to assume the responsibilities of this position, he 
so administered its aflairs that this school came to be known far and 
wide as one of the best academies in the State, and to be blessed 
with remarkable prosperity for the twenty-two years during which 
he remained at its head. It might indeed seem more appropi-iate 
for one of these older men, for years associated with Dr. Woolworth 
in his life and labors here, or for some pupil of his in this school, 
whose life has been made broader and richer because of his influence, 
to bring the tribute of affection and praise to-day to his memory. 

But it is given me to speak in the name of every such friend who 
would, out of a full heart, testify to his love for the noble man and 
the faithful teacher, whose earthly labors are ended, and who has 
entered upon his glorious reward. 

Dr. Woolworth's love for this town and interest in the welfare 
of its institutions did not terminate with his removal to another 
place of labor. I well remember almost at the first of ray personal 
relations with him, as we met at the Convocation of the Regents at 



16 Memoeial. 

Albany, the expression of intei-est on his part in the prosperity of 
this village, this church, and this academy. Especially did he man- 
ifest his satisfaction at the change in the oi'ganization of the school 
then jnst consummated, and which in his opinion gave it a new 
lease of vigorous life. 

He rejoiced in what had been accomplished, and seemed to be as 
much interested as any of those resident in the community, and as 
many of us know, his letters to those here with whom he was ac- 
quainted, and his conversation with them when he met them per- 
sonally, was directed toward and had much to do with that change. 
And so this interest of his continued, and again and again in my of- 
ficial connection with this school have I received, not merely official 
communications from him, but have had added thereto a word of cheer 
and of interest in the good work the school was continuing to ac- 
complish. 

For these nine years and more, during which I have been a resi- 
dent here, I have been interested to note what is the depth and the 
breadth of tlie work done so faithfully year after year, in quiet, con- 
secrated, earnest endeavor to do the duty that just then was com- 
mitted to him to do. In these homes, scattered up and down these 
valleys and upon these hills, I meet those who have been pupils of 
the acadeiny under Dr. Woolworth, and I continually hear words 
of recognition of the services he has rendered to these lives ; and I 
know that not only here, but elsewhere, these streams of influence 
for good, at the sources of which he stood directing their flow for 
the benefit of others, have been coursing abroad and carrying their 
blessings far and wide. So the lesson comes to us, to you and me, 
to-da}', concerning this life that in its mortal experience has passed 
on earth and in its immortal glory has begun on high , and it is 
the value of the success that is loon, when quietly and patiently the 
work that is given to one to do is wrought out in Gods name year 
after year ; and especially when such work is joined to the life of insti- 
tutions that shall stand after we are dead and shall continue to be a 
blessing unto those that shall come after us. The work that was done 
here in connection with the sabbath school — the work that was done 
here in connection with these churches during that term of years — 
the work that was done in this academy was not an ephemeral work. 
The blessings thus generated perpetuated themselves, and in success- 
ive generations move on in increasing spread and increasing power 
as a means of good. In the renewed vigor of the institution here, 
which was so lovingly nourished and fostered by him who has 



Dr. Woolworth. 17 

finished his eartlily work, is the promise that for the years to come 
tliere shall be continued through its ministries the aecomplishmeut 
of results that shall be for the good of men and for the glory of 
God. 

As I have thought of this life, my knowledge of it as a personal 
knowledge, limited somewhat, it has seemed \o me that in good 
measure our brother lived out the motto, which was the favorite 
motto, as you remember, of Dr. Guthrie. Surrounded by those who 
loved him, and he had those he loved wherever lie was, for he had 
a heart to win friends, doing his work for tliose who appreciated 
him and knew him, always reaching along the lines of personal af- 
fection and influence as well as by the ofticial relations which he 
bore to those tliat were under him ; doing this work throughout the 
years as they passed ; we may well say of liim that his thought was, 
as Guthrie used to say, 

" I live for those who love me, 

" For those who know me true, 

" For the heaven that smiles above me, 

" And waits my coming too." 

Remarks of Hon. E. W. Leavenworth. 

It was my happiness to make the acquaintance of Dr. Woolworth 
more than fifty years since. When I came to Onondaga county in 
the fall of 1827, Dr. Woolworth was principal of the Onondaga 
Academy. He was teaching it then with a reputation he had al- 
ready acquired and with a success which was known all over Central 
New York. Great numbers of the young men of Onondaga were 
attending his academy, and from that time down to the present there 
has been no year — probably no half of any year — that some of the 
men who were educated by him have not called ray attention to the 
doctor's memory. Indeed he won the affections of all his pupils. 

Having acquired a far more than ordinary distinction as a teacher 
there, he was called to take charge of the institution here at Homer 
where his reputation became co-extensive with the entire State. 
Probably no educator in the State was better known by the different 
colleges of the State than Dr. Woolworth. His students came up so 
fully prepared that they were recognized as being among the finest 
who sought admission to the different institutions. When the State 
Normal School needed a head, by almost universal consent attention 
was directed to Dr. Woolworth, and again, in consequence of the 



18 Memorial. 

reputation he brought there from Onondaga and Homer, he was 
called upon at the death of Dr. Beek, in 1855 or 1856, to take the 
position of secretary of the Board of Regents. This office he held, 
as you all know, until his declining health compelled him to resign 
last January. I am sure that I speak but the sentiments of the 
whole body of the Board of Eegents of the State and of those 
who have been members of it during the time of his connection with 
it, when I say that if the institutions of the State have been prosperous 
and have been greatly benefited by the action of the Regents during 
the lasc twenty-five years, it has been owing more to the wisdom 
and the experience and the careful and constant attention of Dr. 
Woolworth than to that of any other member of that body. He 
has been indefatigable in his labors. He has been consulted by the 
Regents in regard to all the great matters which have been brought 
before them. His large experience through a period of twenty- five 
years, had enabled him to give such advice and make such sugges. 
tion as were invaluable. 

The Doctor's life was, I think, a remarkable one. Where can 
you find a man who has dedicated sixty years of his life to the edu- 
cation of the young ? Is there an instance in the State, where a 
single individual has devoted that length of time to such an object, 
and who has during all that time made himself eminently useful ? I 
know of no other instance. And there has been no period during 
the whole of that sixty years that he has not been active, vigilant 
and successful. It is no ordinary thing for a man to devote sixty 
years of his life to the education of the young. What could be 
more useful, what could be more honorable, what could be more 
noble than for an individual to dedicate his entire life to such a 
work ?-^— to the work of preparing the young for usefulness and 
honor in this present life and in tiie life to come glory and immor- 
tality ! That was the mission of Dr. Woolworth, to that he devoted 
his life, for that he thought and labored during all these years, and a 
great success crowned his efforts. 

I had an intimate personal acquaintance with him and I need 
hardly say that he seemed to possess about every virtue that belongs 
to our nature. He was modest, he was true, he was affectionate, he 
was active, he was energetic, he was useful, and in every position in 
which he was placed he discharged each duty with faithfulness and 
zeal and in a mauner eminently satisfactory to all those with whom 
he came in contact. 



De. Woolwobth. 19 

Remarks of Hon. Henry E. Pieeson, Yice-Chancelloe of the 
Board of Regents. 

Eighty years of honest living, sixty years of public service, with 
not a blemish. 

If I had words to express what I would like to say, I could hardly 
formulate them here. This is an unusual service for me. I am not 
accustomed to take part in such ceremonies. And yet there is 
something beautiful about it, something marvelously attractive to 
me. Here, in the afternoon of a summer day, surrounded by those 
who had known a man all his life, in whose very texture he has 
woven the elements that make men, we come to do honor to his 
memory. With this memory lingering about us, like the fi-agrance 
of crushed flowers — now that he is gone and liis body but left 
here — because it never can be done again after to-day — who would 
not be willing to make an effort, at least, difficult as it may be, to 
be a witness for so good a man. 

But I have no words to express to these people of Homer, and to 
these children and brother and friends of Dr. Woolvvorth, exactly 
what I feel ; for, by reason of an official position, 1 feel as though 
I had a right, as a kind of co-partner, to consider myself as having 
something to do with this inheritance that he has left us. It is 
indeed a rich one. It is one for all time. It is not only to be found' 
in the institution by the side of this church, from which have gone so 
many men al! over the country, and who so well remember him, and 
their children after them, but in the very web and woof of your 
social and religious life here and elsewhere. It is a part and por- 
tion of the commonwealth of mankind, and it is a glorious part. 
But I do not mean to detain you by trying to say any thing now of 
the public life of Dr. Woolworth. As an officer of the Board of 
Regents, I am very glad to say that he was the head of us all. We 
tried to be faithful co-workers with him. I found him, when I 
went into the Board ten years ago, vigorous, sagacious, firm ; ready 
and prompt in the discharge of duty ; unyielding when he thought 
a thing was wrong, and persistent in the execution of what he 
thought was right; and so he lived his entire life. It certainly to 
me wa^ a marvelous sort of thing, the fact in his history that 
occurred at the aimual meeting of the Board in January last. The 
Doctor had been very fearful for some months, indeed for the past 
year, that by reason of his ill-health he would have to resign his 
position. I don't think he ever got over losing his late friend, the 



20 Memorial. 

Chancellor of the Board, Mr. Priiyn. He always seemed to miss 
him. They were constantly together. And he suddenly sent in his 
resignation. The Board were unwilling to relieve iiim entirely, and 
made him honorary secretary, Dr. Murray becoming the secretary ; 
and at that time Mr. Leavenworth was there, George William Cur- 
tis was there, and others, and a great many members of the Board 
made remarks which I think that any man would feel were reward 
enough for an honest and faithful discharge of official duty. Indeed, 
it was as strong testimony as could be given by man ; and lam sure 
that others reading it felt as we felt when we heard them, that that 
was a proud position for a man to attain to, if he could gain it as 
Dr. Woolworth had gained it, and as he got it then— an eloquent 
tribute to an honest life. The records of the Board of Regents 
contain a beautiful minute, which was presented yesterday at a meet- 
ing by Dr. Upson, who was appointed one of the committee to come 
here with us, and would have come, but for duties that he could not 
forego. I wish I had those minutes here, but they will be printed. 
But they are just like my effort, and the effort of every man who 
undertakes to speak of this departed one. It is simply a reach out 
to find words by which to better express what none of us can better 
express, but what we all feel, that Dr. Woolworth was an honest. 
Christian man, and lived up the full measure of his days in thefaith- 
'ful discharge of every known duty. 

Remarks of Rev. Regent O. H. Warren, D. D. 

It would be impossible, as it is uimecessary, that I should attempt 
to add anything by way of eulogy to what has been said. My own 
personal acquaintance with Dr. Woolworth lias been brief and has 
been in official relations ; and yet that very brief acquaintance has 
given an opportunity for an impression to be made upon my mind 
concerning not merely his fidelity in office, not merely his trust- 
worthiness as a citizen, not merely his devotion to the cause of ed- 
ucation ; but an impression also concerning his Christian character, 
his faith in Christ and of his sense of obligation to one to whom, in 
the end, he felt that he was accountable. 

I could not think that such a character as adorned him in his old 
age could have been grafted upon a youth or early manhood of vice 
or dissipation. It was impossible for me to infer that that character 
which was so firm in its regard for right and truthfulness — that 
seemed to be so exalted in a consciousness of its own personal rela- 
tionship to God — had been grafted upon a life of unbelief in 



Dr. "Woolworth. 21 

Christ, unbelief in his obligation to his maker, or unbelief in the 
great future that awaits us. The life of old age with him, as I wit- 
nessed it, impresses me as a life which was the outcome of Cliristian 
faith and of prayer. I had a few interviews with him — personal 
conversations concerning educational interests — and I remember a 
number of .instances in which he referred to the importance of re- 
ligious influence and religious agencies in connection with the great 
cause of education, and it was his belief, I doubt not — a belief of 
which I need scarcely remind this community — that everything lias 
its highest reward in what comes, by virtue of it, to the mind, to 
the heart, and to that character which we can only arrive at through 
faith in God ; and the richest reward that this man had in this life 
was in that grand and noble character to which such affectionate tes- 
timony has been borne to day. 

But that reward was only the beginning, as I trust, of the rich re- 
ward which awaits him. He labored not for this life only, but for 
the future. His thought was of that character which led him to re- 
gard himself as not his own, but as " purchased with a price." And 
he lived " not unto himself ;" his was not a selfish life ; he lived imto 
Him who died for him and rose again ; lived with a sense of his 
obligation to that God who manifested himself in Christ. He was 
constrained by the thought that the Divine Christ gave himself for 
the world and is now on the heavenly throne discerning his life, his 
thought, his character ; and he trusted that that Christ would give 
him his ultimate, his eternal, his glorious reward. 

Now, it may be that in merely official relations we did not see 
the brightest side of the man's character; but we could see the 
signs or the reflections of that character, and from his public life 
we could trace back in our thoughts the influences which made 
him what he was — to the bible, to the closet, to the throne of grace, 
to the house of prayer. And it is in these influences that we are 
to seek for that which will help to make us like him who has de- 
parted with a character enriched with the fruits of an honorable, 
useful, holy life. May the Divine spirit impress that truth upon 
the hearts of this community. Young people have received from 
him knowledge, but I trust they have received more than knowl- 
edge — an influence upon the heart which leads them to a right 
use of knowledge — a consecration of all to the service of God. 

These services were concluded with prayer by Rev. Dr. Warren 
and the benediction by the Pastor. 



III. 

DR. WOOLWORTH AND THE CONVOCATION. 



[University Convocation, July 18S0.] 

Professor Edwurd North, L. JE. D., Oliairman of the Committee 
on Necrology, read the following sketch of the life and character of 
the late Secretary of the Eegents: 

Samuel Buell Woolworth was born in Bi-idgeliampton, Suffolk 
county, Long Island, December 15, 1800. His fatiier, the Eev. Dr. 
Aaron Woolworth, was a graduate from Yale College in 178i, and 
for many years pastor of the Presbyterian church in Bridgehampton. 
His mother was a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Buell, a 
o-raduate from Yale College in 1741, who preceded the Kev. Dr. 
Lyman Beecher in the pastoi-ate of the Presbyterian cinirch at East- 
hampton. Long Island. Samuel B. Woolworth was iitted for college 
by his father, and in 1819 was admitted to the Sophomore class in 
Hamilton College. His tiiree undergraduate years were wisely used. 
Fortunate in such instructors as President Henry Davis, Dr. Josiaii 
Noyes and Prof. Theodore Strong, he was equally fortunate in class- 
mates whose companionship brouglit daily delight and good inspira- 
tion. Four of these classmates, who still survive after a genial 
friendship of sixty-two years, were Judge William J. Bacon, of 
Utica, Rev. Hiram H. Kellogg, of Chicago, 111., Rev. Peter Kimball, 
of Cleveland, O., Rev. Homer Wheaton, of Lithgow, Dutchess 
county, N. Y. 

For two years after his graduation Mr. Woolworth was a teacher 
in the academy at Monson, Mass., where one of his pupils, now Dr. 
Henry Barnard, of Hartford, Conn., laid the foundation for a train- 
ino' that has helped him to make very large and very valuable con- 
tributions to the literature of education. In 1824, one year before 
the completion of the Erie canal, Mr. "Woolworth accepted a call to 
the principalship of the academy at Onondaga Valley, near to the 
point where the city of Syracuse has since made its wonderful 
growth. For six years. Principal Woolworth's work was done with 



Dr. Wool-worth. 23 

snch enthusiasm, skill and fidelity, that the Onondaga Academy 
gained a wide recognition among the best classical schools in the 
State. In 1830 he was called to a similar position in Homer, where 
the Cortland Academy had been established twelve years before. 
This important trust he held for twenty-two years. Here he practi- 
cally demonstrated that the teacher's surest road to eminence and 
permanent prosperity is on a curriculum in which classical, scientific 
and mathematical studies are equally fostered. A thorough division 
of labor was brought about with the aid of teachers who devoted 
their whole time each to a single department, while his own time 
was reserved for advanced classes and general admitiistration. The 
good effect of this arrangement was soon visible in the gradual in- 
crease of pupils from sixty to an average of three hundred. The 
a',-ademy advertised itself through its loyal pupils, and large classes 
of well-trained students were annually sent to the colleges of New 
York and New England. A new-born zeal for practical knowledge 
took possession of the thrifty farmers in Homer, and they came to 
theac ademy winter evenings to hear the Principal lecture on agricul- 
tural chemistry and kindred topics. 

Here in the quietude of a village settled by New Englanders, and 
religiously loyal to the best New England traditions, Principal Wool- 
worth prepared for college or for busiiiess, for city life or farm life, not 
overlooking the highest preparations for home life, not less than five 
thousand young men and young women, whose reverent gratitude 
to their faithful teacher, as lovingly expressed in all forms of word 
and deed, doubled the joys and mitigated the sorrows of his after 
life. Most emphatic were those expressions of gratitude and rever- 
ence in July, 1846, when the Alumni of Cortland Academy gathered 
from far and near to unite with the citizens of Homer in a social and 
commemorative festival. 

Dr. Woolworth was a prominent member of the large convention 
of teachers who came together July 30th, 184:5, in the Congrega- 
tional church of Syracuse, and after a free interchange of views, 
organized the New York State Teachers' Association. He was 
elected President of this Association at its third annual meeting, 
held in Rochester, in 1S47. At subsequent meetings he was often 
heard speaking woi'dsof wisdom and fraternal counseh His enthu- 
siasm, sagacity and unselfish nature were never more outspoken than 
when he was engaged with his fellow-teachers in maturing plans for 
the upbuilding of their chosen profession. By none is his death 
more deeply mourned than by the few survivors of that Syracuse 



24 Memoeial. 

Convention of 1845, among whom are Superintendent J. W. Bulk- 
ley, of Brooklyn ; Kev. Dr. Edward Cooper, now of Cincinnati, O.; 
Regent E. W. Leavenworth, and Hon. Richard Woolwoj'th, of 
Syracuse, William Barnes, of Albany, and Commissioner W. "W. 
Newman, of South Onondaga. 

In 1^52 Dr. Woolworth received an appointment to succeed Dr. 
George R. Perkins as Principal of the State Normal School at 
Albany. This was at that time the only Normal School in the State 
of New York. By many it was looked upon with doubt and dis- 
favor as a useless innovation. The Normal School was a new thing 
on triah Its speedy downfall was predicted by many politicians and 
many teachers who claimed that the old ways M'ere better. Dr. 
Woolworth's work was now to be more difficult, more important 
and responsible than any he had yet undertaken. Withdrawn from 
the still air of delightful studies that had surrounded him in the 
village of Homer, he was now to be tried by new and severer tests. 
He was to be the observed of jealous and exacting observers. He 
was to be in an atmospiiere of political and social excitements, at a 
centre of civil administration. A teacher of teachers, he was 
expected to multiply himself by inspiring normal students with his 
own high ideal of the teacher's work, and by helping them, while 
conquering the mastery of themselves, to master also the best 
methods of instruction and discipline. 

In the land of peace lie had run witli tlie footmen without weari- 
ness — what wo\dd he now do in the swelling of Jordan ? In this 
^^ntried and perilous path of duty, he went forward firmly, yet 
modestly, with the same good sense and clearness of vision which 
had previously helped him to see the end from the beginning. His 
success was so complete and emphatic that on the death of Dr. T. 
Roraeyn Beck, in 185C, his appointment as Secretary of the Regents 
of the University of the State of New York was called for by pub- 
lic sentiment, not only in Albany, but throughout the State. Results 
soon gave testimony to the wisdom of this appointment. Dr. 
Woolworth's thirty-four years in the teacher's work, with its varied 
forms of requirement and responsibility, had broadened his culture, 
toughened and sharpened his intellect, quickened his social magnet- 
ism, tested his organizing and executive gifts, and made him familiar 
with the needs and possibilities of our State system of education. 
He saw clearly that many points of advantage would be gained, and 
many evils cured, by bringing into sympathy and friendly 



Dr. Woolwokth. 25 

CO operation the widely-scattered teachers and officers who make 
annual reports to the Regents of the University. 

It was a day of honest, well-earned joy in the life of Dr. Wool- 
worth when " The University Convocation " was organized,seventeen 
years ago, in the chapel of tlie Albany Academy. It was on that 
4:th day of August, 1863, that the existence of " The University of 
the State of New York " was revealed to the world as no longer an 
inoperative legal fiction, but a wide-awake and beneficent reality. It 
was a day of victory, and the enemies conquered were prejudice, in- 
difference, alienation, false conservatism. It was the birthday of an 
association that has probably no counterpart in the world ; an asso- 
ciation that has impressive dignity, without chilling formalism ; all 
the vitality law can give, without local and selfish narrowness ; an 
association that binds together in a fraternal guild the living educa- 
tors of the State without the fatal incumbrance of dead books and 
debts that ought to be dead. Dr. Woolworth was not alone in this 
great unique movement. Could he soeak to-day, his voice would 
ascribe equal honor to others. Certainly he was aided most heart- 
ilyand effectively by Chancellor Pruyn And Vice-Chancellor Ver- 
planck, by Regents Benedict, Clinton, Hale, Leavenworth and Per- 
kins, by Presidents Fisher and Cochran, Professors Davies and 
Upson, Secretary Pratt, Principals Clarke, King, Flack and others. 

The Regents' examination, by means of printed questions, is 
another important success with which Dr. Woolworth's name is 
honorably associated. It was organized in 1865. No precedent 
could be found for shaping this system, and mistakes at the outset 
were inevitable. But the system has passed safely through " the 
burning, fiery furnace " of criticism and opposition, both just and 
unjust. It has given a peculiar glory to the educational system of 
the state of New York. It is now quite generally accepted as a 
wholesome stimulus to thorough and well-directed teaching; as an 
effective method of unifying and uplifting the standard of attain- 
ment in our academies and high schools. The enlargement of this 
system of Regents' examination so that it shall include the higher 
studies is already an assured reality. 

In 1836, while Principal of the Cortland Academy, Dr. Wool- 
worth was elected to a seat with the trustees of Hamilton College. 
By a provision of the charter the oldest trustee acts as chairman at 
meetings of the board, with his name at tiie top of the roll. In the 
catalogue of 1836 Dr. Woolworth's name was printed at the bottom 



26 Memoeial, 

of the roll, and whenever a vacancy was created by death or resig- 
nation, his name was moved to a higher position. In the catalogue 
of 1876, exactly forty years after his election, Dr. Woolworth's 
name appeared at the head of the roll. For four years thereafter 
he presided at the meetings of trustees. His duties in the board of 
trust were always dischai-ged with exemplary promptness, courtesy 
and filial generosity. His opinions were received with the respect 
due to ripe knowledge of books and men and large experience in 
educational matters. He was habitually on the lookout for oppor- 
tunities to serve the college. In 1874 his official signature was 
given, with that of Chancellor Pruyn, to an amendment of the 
charter of the college, which authorizes graduates to share in the 
administration by electing a trustee at each commencement for a 
term of four years. 

After his resignation last January, Dr. Woolworth removed from 
Albany to the home of his son in Brooklyn, with the feeling that 
his earthly work was completed. He made a few cheerful visits, 
wrote a few pleasant letters, and waited patiently in the ante- 
chamber of the better life.' The end came sooner than it was looked 
for, on Wednesday, June 30, 1880. Funeral services were held in 
Brooklyn under the direction of Rev. Dr. T. C. Cuyler, and in 
the Congregational church of Homer, under the direction of Eev. 
William A. Robinson, on Saturday afternoon, July 3d. To the 
people who gathered in large numbers from their peaceful village 
homes and hillside farms, it was a day that piously linked itself with 
cherished memories reaching back over a period of fifty years. 

The church was fittingly embellished with flowers, in emblems of 
sorrow, faith and comfort. Words of prayer and sympathy were 
tenderly spoken and sung. Gray-haired fathers and mothers looked 
for the last time on the face of their dead teacher, and seemed to be 
again reciting rhythms that had gained new meaning as the reciters 
grew older and wiser : 

Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus 

Tarn cari capitis ? 

It was a touching sight not often seen — that bearing of the 
father's casket by his own sons,* in the presence of an aged brother 
and weeping grand children. It was a beautiful sight to see the 
rainbow that suddenly spanned the eastern hills, like a celestial mes- 

*The sons liere referred to were Hon. James M. Woolworth, LL. D., Omaha 
Neb.; Mr; Calvin C. Woolworth, Brooklyn; Samuel B. Woolworth, Brooklyn; 
Charles D. Woolworth, Chico, New Mexico. 



De. WooLWOETn. 27 

senger, as the grave received its kindred clay. It was a summer's 
Saturday afternoon to the sorrowing villagers of Homer. To the 
aged sleeper on the hillside, now at rest beside his mother and the 
mother of his children, it was the morning of an eternal day. 

It would not be easy to find in all biography an educator's career 
that has been more evenly and honorably upward, less free from 
blemish or reproach, more serenely and enviably complete than Dr. 
Woolworth's. Other educators have gained some special distinction 
that was briefly brilliant. Dr. "Woolworth's course has been one of 
unpretending, practical usefulness for more than half a century. 
And the end is not yet. His life and character have deeply im- 
pressed themselves upon the educational policy of the State and na- 
tion. His name stands today, and will stand in the future, as a 
symbol of what is best in actual teaching and best in the oversight 
and direction of educational interests. 

Remaeks by Assistant Seceetary Pratt. 

In his social and domestic life. Dr. Woodworth was peculiarly 
genial and vivacious. His conversational gifts were abundant and 
contributed much to his success in teaching as well as to make him 
conspicuous in social circles. He was twice married,* and was most 
happy in his domestic relations, except as these were sundered by the 
loss, successively, of his first wife, his only and most attractive 
daughter, and four years since, his second partner, a most excellent 
lady. Four sons in active business life, and several grandchildren, 
reciprocated his warm aflection and by their presence from time to 
time augmented the pleasures of his home life. He was fond of 
horticulture, spending much time in later life in his garden, 
cultivating choice small fruits with his own hand. He had also 
considerable mechanical skill, which was serviceable in teaching 
natural science as well as in the household. Of medium stature, his 
brain was large, his countenance animated and expressive, and his 
manners those of " a gentleman of the old school." A truthful steel 
engraving was published in Bar7iard's Journal of Education in 
1865, and he sat, two years since, for a fine portrait b}' an artist of 
New York, for his son re^iding at Omaha. 

Dr. Woolworth was a firm, devout and consistent believer in 
Christianity, and during his residence here in Albany was a member 
of the First Presb3'terian church, of which the Rev. Ur. John N. 

* First, to Sophia Mickles. August 18, 1825, who died November 9, 1838 ; second, 
to Betsey Brewster, December 16, 1839, who died September 25, 1876. 



28 Memorial. 

Campbell was tlie minister for a considerable period prior to his death 
in 1864. Dr. Woolworth entertained the hii^hest regard for this 
eminent divine, who was also a most active and valuable member of 
the Board of Regents. During i-eeent years, the late Judge William 
F. Allen, of the Court of Appeals, who was a member of the same 
church, conducted a large Bible class, of which Dr. "Woolworth was 
a regular and greatly interested member. Xo man was more honest 
and upright in all business relations, and few men in public stations 
are more simple, frugal and unostentatious in their habits and modes 
of living than was the subject of this notice. 

The writer's acquaintance with Dr. "Woolworth began casually in 
1850, at the annual commencement of Hamilton College, and was 
extended by occasional calls upon him at the Regents' otiice after 
he became Secretary, by his official visitations at the Fredonia 
Academy while the writer was its Principal, by the considerable 
correspondence and various reports incident to thirteen years' service 
in that institution, and by attendance upon the first meeting of the 
University Convocation in 1863, in the organization and proceedings 
of which both of us took part. In October of the next year {1864), 
on the recommendation of Dr. Woolworth, the present Assistant 
Secretary' of the Regents was invited to accept a vacant two-fold 
position in the Regents' otiice and State Library, and which in Janu- 
ary, 1866, was sujierseded by the then new office of the Assistant Sec- 
retaryship. During these sixteen years of varied and busy service 
and confidential intimacy with the late Chancellor Pruyn and Secre- 
tary "Woolworth, the writer became thoroughly acquainted with both 
of these eminent men ; and he counts it no small privilege as well 
as honor to have enjoyed their personal friendship and official confi- 
dence. The two were themselves so intimately associated that one 
can hardly characterize adequately the one apart from the other. In 
many respects they were dissimilar, and on some minor matters could 
perhaps onlv agree to disagree ; and yet each entertained the highest 
respect for the other to life's ripe end, devoting themselves in truest 
unity to the promotion of the interests confided to their trust. In the 
transaction of official business, a more carefully exact and broadly 
capable man than Chancellor Pruyn could seldom be found. He 
would scarcely write a common-place letter without re-reading and 
probably altering it before affixing his signature. He had great fa- 
cility in composing official papers after the purest models as to style. 
It was no small matter to draft letters and official papers 
which would pass muster with him ; indeed, we have heard him 



Dr. Woolworth. 29 

characterize "the ability to write a letter" as the typical "civil ser- 
vice" qualification for such clerical aid as lie desired. He had the 
highest appreciation of full and exact records of official proceedings ; 
or, to quote Hon. Hamilton Harris' forcible way of putting it, 
"Chancellor Pruyn was great on minutes." He was also methodi- 
cal to a remarkable degree. His business office and desk were in 
" bandbox " order when he left them, though to have every paper 
duly filed or otherwise disposed of, cost him much midnight labor, 
and, it may be, shortened his valuable life ; but "method was every- 
thing to him." His ehirography was angular, somewhat careless, 
and often by reason of numerous erasures and interlineations almost 
illegible to one not familiar with his handwriting; yet one would 
rarely find a word, a letter or a figure wanting or incorrect in any 
product of his pen. 

While Chancellor Pruyn was in politics a life long Democrat, and 
in religious faith a devoted Churchman, he was most tolerant and 
liberal to men of all parties and creeds, admitting all alike to his 
hospitality and intimate friendship. He illustrated traits of charac- 
ter so opposite as seldom to be united in the same person. He was 
both aristocratic and democratic; a full-blooded Albanian of Holland 
descent, and at the same time thoroughly English in his tastes and 
habits of life. 

Such are some of the traits of the late Chancellor Pruyn as seen 
from the standpoint of familiar personal and official intercourse, and 
as they impressed themselves, no doubt, upon the late Secretary 
during his quarter century of familiar association with his superior 
officer. The Secretary was, however, too positive in his own char- 
acter and too far advanced in life to become an imitator or counter- 
part of one whose earlier training and pursuits had been quite un- 
like his own. The Chancellor was the model business man, publi- 
cist and host ; Secretary Woolworth was the enthusiastic teacher, 
transferred to the higher and broader field of supervision, with 
special aptitudes for inspiring others both by precept and example 
with the educational esprit de corps. He had already passed the 
prime of his mature vigor when several great enterprises, which may 
be characterized as the " modern improvements " of the Board of 
Regents, were undertaken ; notably the University Convocation, the 
examination systems and the conservation of the entire landmark 
system of the State. As a consequence of his gradually declining 
strength and advanced age, he was, as a matter of course, conserva- 
tive in his views and moderate in his expectations ; yet he devoted 



30 Memoeial. 

himself most earnestly to snch share of tlie greatly increased labor 
involved as his strength would allow, giving an almost cartehlanohe 
to his lieutenant for the organization and execution of the multiform 
plans and methods required alike within the otlice and throughout 
the whole system coextensive with tlie State. These enterprises far 
exceeded his anticipations in both their magnitude and favorable re- 
sults, and thus appealed in tiie most forcible manner to his interest 
and ambition, and it was, therefore, with the greatest reluctance 
that he relaxed in any degree the constancy of his attention to offi- 
cial business. He so far yielded to the need of recreation and the 
solicitation of his friends as to consent to avail himself, some years- 
ago, of the leave of absence tendered by the Board of Ecgents for a 
tour in Europe, and again to the Eocky Mountain region ; but with 
these exceptions, he was rarely absent from his post above a few days, 
until early last year he was forced by infirmity to lay aside active 
duty and accept an honorary secretaryship, in which his counsel 
only should be sought or expected. Even then, his visits to the 
office were as frequent as possible, and though his home in Albany, 
in the course of providence, afforded the society of not a single rela- 
tive, he could scarcely be induced to quit the familiar scenes in the 
midst of which his active official life had been spent, and to take up 
his final residence with his friends in Brooklyn, where his last 
months were passed and where his calm and peaceful death occurred. 

Any notice of Dr. Woolworth would be incomplete which should 
omit special recognition of his services for twenty-five years as the 
secretary and treasurer of the executive committee of the State Nor 
mal school at Albany. Being thoroughly familiar, as its former 
principal, with the organization, work and needs of the school, he 
was peculiarly qualified to give wise an(5 prudent counsel, as well as 
to administer its finances with faithful economy. As first at liomer 
he came to be esteemed with almost filial regard, so afterward he 
was the patriarch of the Normal School. He relished many a 
pleasantry arising in familiar intercourse with the pupils. One 
which he repeated with great zest was the result of his attempt to 
prove to a young lady his own comparative youthfulness by reading 
without glasses. " Second sight ? " was the lady's laconic and laugh- 
ing query in reply. 

For some years past he took great interest in the duties of the 
New York and Pennsylvania Joint Boundary Commission, of which 
certain of the Regents were members, he himself being the secre- 
tary of tlie joint board. Since his death, the Pennsylvania branch 



Dr. WooLWORxn. 31 

has entered a very complimentary record upon their minutes to the 
memory of one for whom they had come to entertain the highest 
respect. 

On the occasion of the official visitation, for an entire day, of a 
certain academy, as ah-eady incidentally mentioned, Dr. Woolworth 
made a brief address. One thought, sententiousiy expressed, has 
lived more than twenty years in my memory, and I venture to re- 
produce it as eminently appropriate here to-day, that it may, per- 
chance, be preserved another twenty years or more in the memory 
of others now present as a memento of the late honored and lamented 
secretary: " The model animal is the product of nature: the model 
man, of cultivation." 

He lived to see the Board of Eegents of the University which, in 
certain quarters, and at times, until a comparatively recent period, 
was wont to be spoken of as an effete organization worthy only to 
be abolished, take its place in the public estimation as an efficient 
and progressive official patron of higher education throughout the 
State and of honorable repute in other States and nations. As a 
successful teacher for thirty years of his early and meridian life, Dr. 
"Woolworth won the love and esteem of a great multitude of pupils, 
many of whom he has seen advance to useful and honorable posi- 
tions in society and the State, and who have, in times and ways al- 
most numberless, seconded by their willing aid any measures which 
he has urged, in connection with his official position. It is rare that 
a great teacher has the golden opportunities of Dr. Woolworth's 
later life, and it is rarer still that one goes to his last resting place 
with such a golden harvest as he was permitted to garner, even up to 
the midsummer day of his eightieth year. E,eluctant though he may 
have been to put off the armor he had worn so long and so well, it 
IS grateful to us to know that he went, as was most fitting, calmly 
and peacefully to his rest, and that his works, varied and abundant, 
abide as his rich legacy to society and the State. 

Dr. J. C. Gallop, of Houghton Seminary, at Clinton, said : 
3Ir. Chancellor : For more than twenty years my intercourse 
with Dr. Woolworth has been somewhat frequent, and on his part 
it has always been characterized by urbanity and politeness. So 
thoroughly familiar was he with all the machinery of our educa- 
tional system as to render him invaluable as a counsellor in all mat- 
ters pertaining to the duties of a teacher. Within the limits of our 
State, I doubt whether there was a man of any note in his locality 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



020 949 888 



^2 Memorial. 

as an instructor, with whose success and methods he was not 
acquainted. Nor was his Icnowledge limited by the boundaries of 
New Yorlc. The laws, institutions, successful educatftts and 
methods of other States seemed to be nearly as familiar to him as 
were those nearer home. But what rendered his knowledge especi- 
ally valuable, was the fact that it was not the fruit of visionary 
theories and speculations, but the accumulation of long, practical 
and successful experience. He was a naan also whose perceptive 
faculties seemed always on tlie alert, while his love for his chosen 
work rendered weariness in it almost impossible. And when we add 
to all this the fact that he was genial, generous and conscientious, 
we have a man pre-eminently fitted for the office that he filled so 
honorably and so long. What changes in text books and authors, 
among instructors and methods did he witness ! Wliat growth and 
expansion of institutions and knowledge ; and yet he was able to 
keep abreast of the most advanced to the end ; and I esteem myself 
fortunate in being allowed an opportunity to bear tiiis testimony to 
his eminent worth as a Christian gentleman and indefatigable 
laborer in the cause of education. 

De. Flack, of Claverack Academy' and H. R. Institute : 
Mr. Chancellor : I regret that the time will not permit me to 
speak but a moment of the many excellent qualities of the head 
and heart of the much honored Secretary Woolworth. His sound 
judgment and great patience with those who differed with him, 
made him a friend of all fair-minded men. It is a great privilege 
to know intimately and well a man of such unsullied honor, such 
sterling integrity, such purity of motive, and 'such nobility of 
character. It adds dignity to human character that Dr. Woolworth 
has lived. All men esteem their race more to have known him. 
His noble life has added dignity to human nature, and made all who 
know him think better of their race. I am proud of his friend- 
ship. 1 am a better man to have known him. I feel it an honor 
to claim kinship to such a man. Though dead, his very many 
manly virtues live as bright guiding stars to all educators, and all 
elevators of our race. I feel that we are not fully able to appre- 
ciate how great and good such an example is to mankind. 

Further remarks, not here reported, were made by other mem- 
bers of the Convocation. 



N 



